“Visumpaya will not be sold for less than Govt. valuation”

Chief Government Whip and Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga told Parliament yesterday that the historic Visumpaya property (formerly Acland House) will not be sold to any investor below the value set by the Government Valuer.

He emphasised that the UDA Board of Directors has taken a unanimous decision not to sell the property to any investor for less than the valuation of the Government Valuation Department.

The Minister stated this while replying to an allegation made by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa that the Government is prepared to sell the property to an investor for Rs.4 billion as against the government valuation of Rs. 9 billion.

Minister Ranatunga said: “There is no possibility to do that. An investor has made a request with his proposal through a chartered valuer. When it was considered, the valuation set by the Government Valuation Department was three times higher than the valuation set by the chartered valuer. However, we have positively responded to the investor’s request to conduct another valuation through a chartered valuer.”

“The investor requested six months to complete this updated valuation,” the Minister added.

He assured maximum transparency in the transaction process. He also said that the Government is not in a position to develop the property independently.

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